Disclaimer: All copyrighted works present in the following do not belong to me, and are included without intent to profit.

Crossover Idea: Burning With Anger

By Nathan Huss

Emiya Shirou's day had been, for him, normal. Breakfast with Sakura and Fuji-nee. School and classes. Repairing some worn-down equipment for the Student Council (really, as much as it saved them on funds they really needed to just think about buying some new heaters. He was having to work on the ones they had more and more often, and once he eventually graduated he wouldn't be around to continue fixing them as often as they'd need). He had ended up running across Tohsaka Rin while he was talking with Issei, and she had seemed unusually agitated. Everyone had off days, though, and the fact that Issei had all but declared her to be an enemy of all mankind probably hadn't helped.

But yeah… a normal day. He had ended up staying late after school to help with the archery club, and by the time he had started off for home it was already getting dark.

He knew the way home easily, so he hadn't paid much attention to his surroundings. He thought for a moment that he had seen a flash of red going around a corner, but it had been too quick to really see once he noticed, and might had just been a dulled car light or something. In any case, it was heading in another direction so there wasn't much reason to think more on it.

It was when he was passing by a playground that things took a turn for the… well…

He had heard the voice of a young girl from over by the swings. Considering how late it was, he decided to take a look just to make sure that there was an adult or someone watching over whoever was playing there. While nothing bad had been going on in Fuyuki , there had been some odd sightings that had people gossiping and spreading a couple urban myths about what was going on. Better safe than sorry.

On the swings was a young girl with silver-white hair that nearly shone under the streetlamps, singing something in some other language to herself. There didn't seem to be anyone else around, so he approached her. "Excuse me, miss?"

The girl stopped immediately, her head whipping around to look at him.

"Ah, sorry," he apologized. "I was just wondering if your parents were nearby. It's getting really late and you shouldn't be out alone."

The girl tilted her head for a moment, before smiling widely. "Waaaa! I wasn't even planning on finding you yet, onii-chan!"

That caused Shirou to blink in confusion. "I'm sorry, miss… do I know you?"

She hopped off the swing and twirled happily. "I thought I would see which Servants had been summoned first, but meeting you already must be fate! I just can't pass this up! We can all play together now!"

He backed away slightly. This was rapidly getting weird, and he wasn't sure how to respond to the girl. In fact… he could feel something in the air, saturating the playground in an aura of danger.

"Come on, Berserker! Say hello to onii-chan!"

Shirou took a step back as a figure wreathed in swirling darkness somehow coalesced next to the girl out of thin air. With a pulse of menace, what looked to be the kanji 'ten' flared, casting off the shadows to reveal a man's bare back, with the glowing symbol actually burned into his darkened flesh. Already being assaulted by the sense of foreboding that was flooding the park, Shirou took a step back in shock at the sight of the man. Not just the rictus of rage on his face, or the glowing red hate in the eyes, but in the center of his chest was a gaping hole that much like the scars on his back seemed to have been burned into him and still glowed with embers of whatever force had caused it.

"All right! Now we can play with onii-chan!" the girl shouted gleefully.

The dark-skinned man growled. "I do not play," came rough words, grit out harshly. "I fight. I destroy. I kill. 'Play' is for those too weak to matter."

The girl frowned for a moment, before smiling again. "Well, we should see if onii-chan is strong enough then! If he is you can fight, and if he isn't I can play, and either way he'll be mine!"

The man snarled, but faced Shirou. "Are you worthy to stand against me, child? Let me see your strength!" Falling into a martial stance, the man suddenly blurred towards the shocked teenager.

Shirou barely had time to think before he raised his bookbag in front of himself, reinforcing it as strongly as he could just as the man's fist connected. The impact threw him back off his feet to skid across the playground, and his arms were shaking from having held his makeshift shield against the blow, but he was able to scramble away in time to avoid an arcing stomp from his attacker aimed at where his head had laid.

The dark man didn't follow further as Shirou managed to get back to his feet, instead looking at his own fist for a moment, and then at the bookbag in the student's hands.

"Interesting. Interesting! You might have some skill after all." A feral grin formed. "Let me see more!"

Shirou ran.

He had to get back to the house… Out here he had nothing he could turn into a weapon quick enough with the 'Berseker' attacking him, and the chance of someone stumbling upon them and getting put in danger was too high. Hopefully the bookbag would last long enough for a shield to get him-

A backhand staggered him, and the bag was torn from his hands. "I thought you actually might have been a warrior, but no," the dark man sneered, his wound glowing in front of Shirou's eyes. "Just another coward! If you're not willing to stand and fight, then die! Metsu-!"

The man cupped his hands at his side as if holding a ball, and a roiling sphere of dark energy formed between them. Shirou pushed his circuits for as much prana as he could get out enough. He had to Reinforce his clothing. Reinforce his-

"Hadouken!"

Author's Notes:

A follow-up to "The Man in Red." This time, filling in for Hercules we have Ryu/Evil Ryu. I know he's a lot more talkative than Herc or Lancelot, but with his coloration from SFIV and personality in comparison to normal Ryu, I think it works well enough. At least, better than my first choice had been…

Anywho, here's another Servant revealed. I'm only planning on doing a chapter for each replacement, and then maybe a few of interaction between them, but otherwise this is not going to be a full series… probably.

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